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Association of birthweight and head circumference at birth to cognitive performance in 9- to 10-year-old children in South India: prospective birth cohort study

Association of birthweight and head circumference at birth to cognitive performance in 9- to 10-year-old children in South India: prospective birth cohort study
Association of birthweight and head circumference at birth to cognitive performance in 9- to 10-year-old children in South India: prospective birth cohort study
To examine whether birthweight and head circumference at birth are associated with childhood cognitive ability in South India, cognitive function was assessed using three core tests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for children and additional tests measuring long-term retrieval/storage, attention and concentration, and visuospatial and verbal abilities among 505 full-term born children (mean age 9.7 y). In multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex, gestation, socioeconomic status, parent's education, maternal age, parity, body mass index, height, rural/urban residence, and time of testing, Atlantis score (learning ability/long-term storage and retrieval) rose by 0.1 SD per SD increase in newborn weight and head circumference, respectively (p < 0.05 for all), and Kohs' block design score (visuospatial ability) increased by 0.1 SD per SD increase in birthweight (p < 0.05). The associations were reduced after further adjustment for current head circumference. There were no associations of birthweight and/or head circumference with measures of short-term memory, fluid reasoning, verbal abilities, and attention and concentration. In conclusion, higher birthweight and larger head circumference at birth are associated with better childhood cognitive ability. The effect may be specific to learning, long-term storage and retrieval, and visuospatial abilities, but this requires confirmation by further research.
0031-3998
424-429
Veena, Sargoor R.
549cbba2-5ac1-4088-be37-4c1e656bddea
Krishnaveni, Ghattu V.
cd20fca7-d151-43b7-a7b4-d6051d6dd922
Wills, Andrew K.
46f423e1-510f-49e2-9a26-5e846d84f3fd
Kurpad, Anura V.
d94c1b3b-a14f-44e8-bd9a-84f5f25cc8d0
Muthayya, Sumithra
c10b31cb-9f8c-4e6d-8733-fd48a98e3a5b
Hill, Jacqueline C.
2dcef0dd-8dfb-4891-b0d1-4c4cf2a9d4d4
Karat, Samuel C.
69af17ad-2c2a-464d-bb13-df1c40f51fc8
Nagarajaiah, Kiran K.
7ca64eaf-30c4-45c3-b1e9-2f02d876e3db
Fall, Caroline H.D.
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Srinivasan, Krishnamachari
a5367aa3-c40e-4c3c-825e-2d150a3e40c5
Veena, Sargoor R.
549cbba2-5ac1-4088-be37-4c1e656bddea
Krishnaveni, Ghattu V.
cd20fca7-d151-43b7-a7b4-d6051d6dd922
Wills, Andrew K.
46f423e1-510f-49e2-9a26-5e846d84f3fd
Kurpad, Anura V.
d94c1b3b-a14f-44e8-bd9a-84f5f25cc8d0
Muthayya, Sumithra
c10b31cb-9f8c-4e6d-8733-fd48a98e3a5b
Hill, Jacqueline C.
2dcef0dd-8dfb-4891-b0d1-4c4cf2a9d4d4
Karat, Samuel C.
69af17ad-2c2a-464d-bb13-df1c40f51fc8
Nagarajaiah, Kiran K.
7ca64eaf-30c4-45c3-b1e9-2f02d876e3db
Fall, Caroline H.D.
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Srinivasan, Krishnamachari
a5367aa3-c40e-4c3c-825e-2d150a3e40c5

Veena, Sargoor R., Krishnaveni, Ghattu V., Wills, Andrew K., Kurpad, Anura V., Muthayya, Sumithra, Hill, Jacqueline C., Karat, Samuel C., Nagarajaiah, Kiran K., Fall, Caroline H.D. and Srinivasan, Krishnamachari (2010) Association of birthweight and head circumference at birth to cognitive performance in 9- to 10-year-old children in South India: prospective birth cohort study. Pediatric Research, 67 (4), 424-429. (doi:10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181d00b45). (PMID:20032815)

Record type: Article

Abstract

To examine whether birthweight and head circumference at birth are associated with childhood cognitive ability in South India, cognitive function was assessed using three core tests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for children and additional tests measuring long-term retrieval/storage, attention and concentration, and visuospatial and verbal abilities among 505 full-term born children (mean age 9.7 y). In multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex, gestation, socioeconomic status, parent's education, maternal age, parity, body mass index, height, rural/urban residence, and time of testing, Atlantis score (learning ability/long-term storage and retrieval) rose by 0.1 SD per SD increase in newborn weight and head circumference, respectively (p < 0.05 for all), and Kohs' block design score (visuospatial ability) increased by 0.1 SD per SD increase in birthweight (p < 0.05). The associations were reduced after further adjustment for current head circumference. There were no associations of birthweight and/or head circumference with measures of short-term memory, fluid reasoning, verbal abilities, and attention and concentration. In conclusion, higher birthweight and larger head circumference at birth are associated with better childhood cognitive ability. The effect may be specific to learning, long-term storage and retrieval, and visuospatial abilities, but this requires confirmation by further research.

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Published date: April 2010
Organisations: Faculty of Medicine

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Local EPrints ID: 352582
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/352582
ISSN: 0031-3998
PURE UUID: 56b3b5e6-a3bf-4ff0-b83f-e3a34a078993
ORCID for Caroline H.D. Fall: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-5552

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Date deposited: 16 May 2013 13:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:40

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Contributors

Author: Sargoor R. Veena
Author: Ghattu V. Krishnaveni
Author: Andrew K. Wills
Author: Anura V. Kurpad
Author: Sumithra Muthayya
Author: Jacqueline C. Hill
Author: Samuel C. Karat
Author: Kiran K. Nagarajaiah
Author: Krishnamachari Srinivasan

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